Sleet-cutter for third rails.



No. 805,124. PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905.

E. A. DUNBAR & W. H. ROGERS.

SLEET CUTTER FOR THIRD RAILS.

APPLICJATION FILED MAR.18, 1905.

TIE 5r UNITED STATES PATENT orrion.

ERVIN A. DUNBAR, OF VVHEATON, AND WALTER H. ROGERS, OF

VVARRENVILLE, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed March 18, 1905. Serial No. 250.844.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ERVIN A. DUNBAR, residing at VVheaton, and WVALTERH. Roe- ERS, residin at Warrenville, in the county of Dupage and Stateof Illinois, citizens of the United States, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Sleet Cutters for Third Rails, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to sleet-cutters, and is more particularlysuitable for use in connection with electric railway systems, in whichthe electric power is transmitted to the car-motor through a conductoror third rail running parallel to the rails on which the wheels of thecar run. In such systems it is common to provide a shoe or brush, whichconstitutes one terminal of the electric circuit of the car andwhichbears against the third rail. In order to make a good electrical contacttherewith, it is desirable to have means for removing sleet and ice thatmay have been frozen upon the surface of the rail immediately in advanceof the contact-shoe.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide such a device and tomake the same of simple and effective construction and to improve uponother devices intended for this purpose by reducing the expense ofconstruction and of keeping in repair.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is anend elevation of a device embodying the invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a base-bar intended to be arrangedparallel with the direction of travel and fastened by any suitable meansto the side of the car or truck opposite or over the third rail inadvance of the electrical contact-shoe. A bar 3, parallel to the base,has at each end depending forks 6, which support a shaft or aXle 4, onwhich are mounted a series of cutting-disks 5. Any number of these disksmay be mounted side by side on each axle. They may be provided withserrated edges, as shown in the drawings, and are adapted to bearagainst the rail which is to be cleared of sleet. Each end of the bar 3is connected with the base-bar 1 by a link 7, containing a slot 8. Thelink is pivoted to one of these bars by a bolt 9, while a bolt 10 passesthrough the slot and connects the other end of the link to the base orother bar with a pivotal and sliding connection. The bar 3, and with itthe cutting-disks 5, are normally forced outward from the base-bar 1 bysprings 11. In the form of the invention shown in the drawings thesesprings are strung on eyebolts 12, which are fastened to the bar 3 andpass loosely through the base 1.. The tension of these springs can beadjusted by means of nuts 13 on the eyebolts 12 ,bringing the two barsnearer together or permitting the springs to force them farther apart,as desired.

It will be seen that when the base 1 is mounted on a truck the distancewhich the cutters project therefrom can be adjusted by adjusting thesenuts 13. The bolts 12 are attached to the base 3 by cross-bolts 2,passing through the eyes of the eyebolts 12, or by any other suitablemeans. When in opera tion, the cutters are arranged to travel on thesurface of the rail which is to be cleared, and the springs 11 can beadjusted to press the cutters against that rail with any desiredpressure. The greater the size of the ice obstruction encountered by thegrinders the greater the pressure of the cutters thereon. This resultsfrom the fact that in riding over such an obstacle the grinder has tocompress the springs 11 to a greater degree, and thus increase theirtension. When the leading cutter encounters ice, it breaks the same awayor at least pierces and cuts off the sur face thereof. The give of thesprings 11 and slotted links 7 enables it to ride up over any ice whichit does not move. The succeeding cutter removes the remainder of theice, if any, and the spring and slot above it enable it to yield as muchas necessary to ride over any broken pieces. The ice on the rail is thusbroken or cleared, so that the contact-shoe immediately following canmake a close con tact with the rail. It will be observed that theeyebolts, pivots, and slots thus produce a cutter which is elasticallysupported against the rail and which will yield elastically as much asmay be necessary when any substance intervenes between the rail and oneor both of the cutters or when a portion of rail higher than theprevailing level is encountered. The arrangement of one set of eyebolts,links, and cutters at each end gives stability against sidewisestresses.

It will be observed that the very simpleappearing structure of Fig. 1has no less than four connections between the bar 3 and the base 1, andis therefore correspondingly strong and resistant.

One feature of the invention resides in the peculiar construction of thecutters. They are composed of disks, which may be either cast or stampedfrom metal of suitable thickness. Each is provided with a series ofsharp points or transverse cutting edges which may be of the very simpleform shown in the drawings or may be of any other desired form, and eachdisk is separately rotatable on its shaft or axle. It is obvious that agiven disk will have only one cutting edge at a time located at thelowest point of its circleas, for example, the edge 5 in Fig. 1. WVhenthe cutting edge is thus pressed against the rail, the entire pressurewith which said disk is forced outward is borne upon this single edge,and hence the cutting power is intensified. hen a series of such disksare mounted side by side 011 the axle, as shown in Fig. 2, the disksvery soon assume positions in which their several cutting edges are outof alinement with each other, as there shown. At any given instant theentire pressure on the axle 4 is borne by those few cutting edges of thedisks mounted on that axle which at that instant happen to be in thelowest part of their travel, thus further intensifying the pressurebetween the cutting edges and the rail. By this construction a minimumof pressure exerted by the springs 11 results in a maximum of cuttingeffect, and each disk is separately free to adjust itself to whatevercharacter of roughness it individually may encounter. It will be seenthat the cutting edge 5 cannot be forced backward by ice encounteredfrozen upon the rail without causing the disk to rotate, and thusbringing the next cutting edge 5 of the same disk down to an equalcuttinglevel, while if a piece of ice should become wedged between theedges 5 and 5, preventing 5 from descending, the disk could slideforward without rotating at all. In that event the edge 5 would act as ascraper set at an angle to rip off the top layer of ice and the edge 5would act as another scraper to clear off the layer below. The adjoiningdisks meanwhile might rotate as cutters or slide as scrapers, accordingto the conditions which each might encounter.

In some forms of sleet-cutters heretofore constructed a broad-facedcutter has been employed with serrations on the surface. The use by thepresent invention of a series of relatively narrow-faced disks obviatesthe expense incidental to cutting and sharpening the face of abroad-faced cutter. Such disks can be cast in their final form ready foruse and need only to be assembled, or they can be stamped out of sheetmetal and subsequently hardened without requiring any preliminaryprocess of grinding the separate teeth to sharpen them. If, however, itbe desired to sharpen them individually, this can be done simply and byinexpensive labor.

If one becomes broken or develops flaws or soft places, that one diskcan be removed and a new one substituted without regrinding orabandoning the entire cutter, as would be necessary if a similar defectshould occur in a broadfaced cutter.

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a cutter composed of amultiplicity of cutting-disks arranged side by side and separatelyrotatable on one axle; an axle supporting said disk; and means tosupport the axle.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a cutter composed of amultiplicity of cutting-disks arranged side by side and separatelyrotatable on one axle; sharp-toothed edges on each disk; an axlesupporting said disks; and means to support the axle.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a bar arranged parallel tothe direction of travel; a base supporting said bar; springs at each endbetween said bar and base; links at each end between said bar and base;and a cutter carried by said bar and adapted to engage the surface ofthe rail which is to be cleared.

4. In an apparatus of the class described,- a base-bar arranged parallelto the direction of travel; a second bar parallel thereto; springsbetween the said bars tending to force them apart and tie-bolts betweenthe said bars opposing the springs; links at each end between said bars;and a cutter carried by said bar and adapted to engage the surface ofthe rail which is to be cleared.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a base-bar arranged parallelto the direction of travel; a second bar parallel thereto; springsbetween the said bars tending to force them apart at each end; tie-boltsat each end opposing the springs links connecting the bars at each end;and cutters carried by said second bar at each end and adapted to engagethe surface of the rail which is to be cleared.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a bar arranged parallel tothe direction of travel; a base supporting said bar; springs at each endbetween said bar and base; links at each end between said bar and base;an axle ateach end of said bar supported thereby and arrangedtransversely to the direction of travel; and a multiplicity ofcutting-disks on each axle, arranged side by side, each disk beingindividually rotatable on its axle.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of subscribingwitnesses.

ERVIN A. DUNBAR. WALTER H. ROGERS. IVitnesses:

CHAs. LUCAS, ADAM DERNBACH, IN. V. IIOPF, H. E DANIELS

